- COVID-19 hits consumers hard as 59% of people see a reduction in available credit

09 April 2020, London - ClearScore, the UK’s leading free credit score and credit marketplace, today reveals data that show the true cost of COVID-19 on the country’s credit landscape. UK consumers have seen an average 59% reduction in available credit offers across credit cards and loans, with self-employed and part-time workers (among them key workers) hardest hit.

The data also show that consumers who have linked their accounts with open banking have seen a 39.4% increase in credit available to them vs comparable users in March 2020. ClearScore has launched a new initiative to encourage users to provide real-time access to their bank account data in exchange for better credit options, versus traditional methods that are up to six weeks out of date.

ClearScore’s data from over 9 million UK consumers also demonstrate that rates of lending using...